News Now

Market

Measure Of Future U.S. Economic Growth At 14-month Low

NEW YORK (11/4/13)--A prominent measure of future economic growth in the U.S. was at a 14-month low at the end of October.

The New York-based Economic Cycle Research Institute said on Friday that its weekly leading index grew by only 1.7% for the week ending Oct. 5--a downturn of 2% from the prior week, and the measure's smallest increase since August 2012 (4-traders.com Nov. 1).

The index's smoothed annual growth rate dropped below 1.7% for the first time in 2013. It peaked at 8.8% earlier this year.

The last week before the partial government shutdown--the week ending Sept. 27--ECRI reported that the annualized index was at 4.6%. During the impasse, it declined by about a percentage point a week, and has continued to slide at a slower pace since.

Over the entire month of October, the weekly leading index grew by 1.6%, down from 4.5% in September.